Metal cabinet door



June 13, `1939. l A. GQLDEN METAL CABINET DooR Filed Feb. 2. i958 Patented June 13, 1939 PATENT OFFICE METAL CABINET noon Albert Golden, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Interstate Metal Products Company, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois Application February z, 133s, 'serial' No. 188,264.

f claims. (ci. 139-46) This invention relates to improvements in door construction, and more particulary to insulated and reinforced sheet metalA doors suitable fo sheet metal or steel cabinets. 5 Doors for cabinets of the class of structure herein contemplated are necessarily of compact construction, light in weight and formed of the same sheet lmetal of steel as the cabinet body proper, and are usually as light in weight as possible in order that the cabinets can be vmoved about or placed where necessary. These doors for reasons of economy and expediency in structure are formed of as small a number of parts as possible, and the entire outer face of the door is generally stamped out of` a single sheet.

Since these cabinets are primarily adapted for use in offices and homes it is highly important thatvthey are made as neat or `decorative as possible, that the exterior surfaces are smooth and unmarred, andthat they can be painted or enameled without any surface irregularities, marks, lines or indentations appearingon thel exposed faces` of the finished cabinet.

Since the cabinets and doors are made of single thicknesses of sheet metal of generally 24 or 26 gauge, it is necessary to reinforce the door to prevent it from becoming deformed and to give it body especially in cabinets of large size, and it is also necessary or at least highly desirable to sound insulate the doors to reduce the metallic sounds when the door is closed.

Heretofore doors lin cabinets of this kind have been reinforced and sound insulated by welding or otherwise securing to the inner side of the 5 door a strip of metal running lengthwise there-h of. Welding this strip to the door by any meth-- od caused indentations or weld markings on the outer surface of the door which could not be entirely covered by paints or enamels, and the, I0 resulting product had an irregular dented or marred appearance which detracts from the beauty of cabinet and its salability. Other methods have been adopted such as nestingv a liner within the side flanges of the door and welding it to the side anges. However, such latter methods have been slower and more costly and necessitated brazing or torch welding without satisfactory results. 1 It is therefore the object of this invention|` to provide a sheet metal cabinet door having an improved sound insulating and reinforcing structure. f`

i Another object is toprovide animproved door structure of the class described wherein all structural parts are spot welded to each other.

tions, and' also forms a secure t of the two parts.

Another object is to provide a sheet metal door having a sound insulating and reinforcing lining secured to it so thatvth'e surface of the door is free from markings, burns, or indentations, and which can be painted or enameled to yield a smooth, glossy, unmarred and uniform surface.`

Other objects relate to details and economy cf structure which will be apparent from a consideration of the fllowing specification and drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet metal or steel cabinet provided with a door embodying my improved construction.

Fig.A 2 is a broken transverse section through the door on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. l

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section of the door on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a partial transverse section of the door I on the. line 4 4 of Fig. 1.`

Referring to the drawing. I 0 indicatesa sheet metal or steel cabinet suitable for storage, shop, ofiice or household use, and is formed of stampings of 24 or 26 gauge sheets. One or more doors II may be suitably hinged thereto and provided with closure means. c

The door comprises an outer or face portion I2 stamped out of a single sheet of metal and is formed integrally with inwardly extending flanges I3 at the top and bottom edges which may be finished oil with the in-turned seams I4. 'Ihe sides of the door are likewise provided with the flanges I5, one or both of w ich may be flnishe off with the in-turned sea s I6. l

In order to give strength and rigidity to thel door and prevent its deformation, and also to provide a pocket to receive insulating material, the ller I1 is provided. The vertical edges of this filler are stamped to provide channels 'IB whichcomprise the webs I9, inner flanges 20 andouter flanges 2|. The filler is adapted to nest within the ange I3 and I5 of the door, so that the flanges 2I of the filler lie inside of and against the flanges I5 of the door, while the webs I9 of the filler lie against the inner surface ofthe door facing I2. lIn practice the flanges I5 of the door may be bent slightly inwardly so as to make an angle of less than with the inner surface. 'Ihis permits the filler to be snapped inwardly and be held in place during the welding opera- 0 The flanges 20 of the channel are of a depth suflicient to space the liner' I1 from the door I2 to provide a pocket whereininsulating material such as, for example, the corrugated paper boards 22 may be placed. It is of course under- 55 stood that various kinds of insulatingmaterial known to the art may be employed instead, a'xi'dfl they may be adhered to the liner or carried in the pocket formed by it and the door facing, The outer flanges 2l of the channels are preferably of a depth slightly less than that of the door flanges I5, and may, or may not partly overlie the seams I6.

The channels I8 are as narrow as they can be expediently made so as to provide a maximum expanse of the liner surface between them, and also sufficiently wide only to the extent of enabling one spot welding electrode to be temporarily received. The formation of the channels at the vertical edges of the filler I1 also serves to strengthen it and the webs I9 which lie against the inner surface of the door facing I2 alsoact as reinforcing ribs. The liner is joined to the door facing by spot welding the outer channel flanges 2| to the door flanges I5 by clamping the parts between the electrodes of a spot welding device, and causing spot welds 29 to be made at several vertically spaced apart points, the number being dependent upon the length of the door. Thus the only points of jointure are along the door fianges, and no weld marks are caused on the face of the door. Also by means of providing a channel, which maybe very narrow, a rapid and efficient spot weld may be made.

1'f desired, in order to prevent undue bending or displacement from its relative parallel position, the liner may be aided in being uniformly spaced from the door panel by providing it at its remaining opposed edges, in this case the top and bottom, with angle irons 23,' which may be spot welded to the liner as at 24, by means of one leg, the other leg freely abutting against the door-panel. Other angle iron pieces of varying lengths such as 25 may be used to provide reinforcement at necessary points, and welded inside the liner as at'26, adjacent the portions of the structure which carry the lock 21 and door handle 28. y n

Although I have shown and described certain features of my improvement for the purpose of illustration, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the details and form of construction without departing from the spirit of my invention, and therefore I do not wish to be specifically restricted thereto except as so limited by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A sheet metal door structure comprising a facing panel having flanges formed at its edges and extending inwardly substantially perpendicular thereto the edges of said flanges terminating in overlapped seams, a liner for said panel formed with channels on opposed edges thereof, the said liner being positioned within the flanges of said panel so that the outer flanges of the channels lie against the flanges of the panel, and the facing panel formed with integral inwardly extending flanges and an insulating reinforcing liner nested therein having channel portions stamped integrally therewith on two opposed edges and angle bars secured to said liner adjacent its other two opposed edges, the webs of said channels and the perpendicularly extending legs of said bars lying against said panel to form stiffenlng ribs therefor and to hold said liner in parallel spaced relation thereto and forming a pocket therewith adapted to contain sound insulating material, the outer flanges of said channels being spot welded to complementary panel flanges.

3. A sheet metal door structure comprising a facing panel formed with integral inwardly extending marginal ilanges, an insulating and reinforcing liner nested within the flanges of said panel, the said liner being formed with integral relatively narrow channel portions on at least two opposed longitudinal edges and bars pro,- vided with perpendicularly extending legs secured to said liner adjacent the top and bottom and intermediate thereof, the webs of said channels and the legs of said bars lying against said panel and holding the body of said liner in spaced parallel relation to said panel forming a pocket therewith, and insulating material contained in said pocket, the said liner being secured to said panel by spot welds formed between the4 outer flanges of said channels and the flanges of said panel4 against which they lie.

4. A sheet metal door structure comprising a facing panel formed with integral flanges extending therefrom at substantially a right angle, a liner for said panel adapted to reinforce it and support insulating material for said door, the said liner being formed with integral channel portions on at least two opposed edges, the webs thereof lying against said panel and the outer flanges thereof lying against the flanges of the panel and being spot welded thereto whereby the body of said liner is held in spaced parallel relation to said panel to form a pocket there-4 with, insulating material contained in said pocket, and spacing and reinforcing members secured to the inner side of said liner and abutting against the inner side of said panel.

5. The method of making a .reinforced and insulated sheet metal door structure which comprises forming a flanged ldoor panel from a single sheet vwith the flanges on the vertical edges thereof extending at an angle of slightly less than 90 to the inner panel face. forming a reinforcing and insulating liner thereof having channels stamped-integrally therewith on the vertical edges thereof, the said channels being relatively Anarrow and having their flanges extending at substantially right angles to said liner, the width of said liner overall being substantially the width of said panel' between the base of its vertical flanges, forcingl the said liner in between the opposed panel 'flanges to cause the outer flanges o'f said channel to lie snugly against the said flanges of the panel, and spot Welding the said flanges together by clamping them between opposed electrodes of -a spot welding dei vice.,

ALBERT GOLDEN. 

